Packaging apparatus



Aug. 2l, 1923., HSA-@ F. M. PETERS ET AH.

PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed July 6v. 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet l Aug., 2191923. I

. ELM. PETERS ET AL.

PACKAGING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July Aug. 2H, 31923.; l

F. M. PETERS ET AL PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed Jgly e 1920 `e sheets-sheet Aug; 2l, 11923. f

IlAl-@l F, M. PETERS ET AL.

PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed July 6, 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet 4,

Aug-.211, ma] @www F.. M. PETERS .ET AL I PACKAGING 'APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 2l, A31923..

F. MQ 'PETERS ET AL.

' PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed. `July 6 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet G Patented Aug, 2l 1923.

uur sare intatti Partnr ortica.,

FRANK M. PETERS AND WARREN HUNGERFORD, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO PETERS MACHINERY COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PACKAGING Applicationl led July 6,

To-allwhomz'tmay concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK M. PETERS and VARREN HUNGERFORD, citizens of the VUnited States, residing at Chicago, in the county of yCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain' new and useful` Improvements in Packaging Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has reference more particularly to a machine for forming a carton or container. from a blank of cardboard or the like, and .wherein the, article or articles which are to be enclosed in the carton are inserted in the carton as the latter is being formed, or are placed in position so that the blank is folded around such article or articles so as to form a carton containing such article or articles-thereby avoiding the necessity of filling the carton after it is formed.

It is a common practice of manufacturers of bakery goods and the like, to put up their goods-forl example, 'loaf cakes or quantities of wafers or small cakes-in cartons or individual packages, in which they are sold to the consumer, and it is, of course, desirable to package the articles as rapidly as possible, to economize space, and minimize the expense of packaging the goods.

In packagingi bakery goods, such as loaf cakes, wafers, and the like,'it has heretofore been impossible 'to form the carton directly around the goods or articles to becontained therein, owing to the soft or brittle character of the goods, which-is likely to incur damage in the operation of forming the carton therearound, and also because of the irregular and not entirely uniform shapes of some of these-goods which would renderit very difficult to fold the carton along straight lines and veffect a neat appearing package. For these reasons it has been customary to fold the carton around a former of the proper size and shape, and after the complete formation of the carton to fill the latter with the goods which it is intended to contain.

The principal objects of our invention are to providel a machine in which the operations of forming the carton and filling the latter are carried on at thesame time so as to avoid the necessity of separately making the carton and thereafter filling the same; to provide a-,machine in which a blank is APPARATUS.

1920. serial No. 391;,117. v

formed around the article or articles conytained therein without danger of injury to suc-h article or articles by the carton formmgoperations; toprovide a carton forming device in which the article or articles to be packaged are'placed so as to have the cartonA formed therearound and thus contain the-:articles when the carton is removed from the device gto provide a carton former which has the article or articles to be packaged placed therein before the blank is formed therearound into a carton and havmcg. means for expelling such article or articles simultaneously with the carton from thev former after the carton has been completed; to provide means for holding the article or articles in the former before the carton is formed therearoundg-and, in general, to provide an improved machine operating automatically to receive successive charges of the goods to be contained in a package and forming the carton therearound, so as to avoid the necessity of filling the. carton after it has been formed.

For the purpose of illustration, we have shown our invention in connection with a carton forming machine similar' to that shown and described in United States Letters Patent 1,025,880 granted to F. M. Peters on May 7th, 1912, and

On the drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of .themachine of said patent with our invention app-lied thereto and the necessary modifications of` said machine to adapt .same to have our invention applied thereto.

Figure 2, a view looking at the righthand side of the machine, shown in Figure l, with the side frame removed and parts shown in section on the line 2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3, an enlarged ldetail view, partly in section, showing the mechanism for folding and forming the carton. f

Figure 4, a side view of the driving mechanism and devices for feeding the charge of goods to the carton forming head.

Figure 5, anenlarged detail view of the charge feeding mechanism showing the carton forming head in section and the charge feeding mechanism in the position just after a. chargeI has been supplied to the carton forming head.

Figure 6, a top view of thc mechanism shown in Figure 5, and

v Figure 7, a front view of the former with parts in section and other parts removed to disclose details of construction.

Inasmuch asth'e carton forming machine yshown herein is essentially lthe same as that disclosed in the Peters patent, hereinbefore mentioned, it is deemed unnecessary to describe in detail the construction of the carton forming machine except as to modifications thereof which ou invention require.

This carton filling machine comprises the v pivoted-to the wings 19. The cams 17 and sideframes. 1,y which. are suitably spaced 'apart and have a top 2 mounted thereon and a cross-brace 3 connecting the side frames below the top, and adjacent the front of the machine. A n upwardly projectingstandard 4 is mounted at each side of the machine,

and a shaft 5 is journaled inthe upper ends of these standards directly above a shaft 6, which is journaled in the side frames 1 below the top 2. Each of these shafts hasl pairs of sprocketsl 7 land 8, respectively,'secured` thereon 'and around which pass the endless chains 9 which are carried by these sprockets 47`and 8, one at each side of the machine, as

shown in Figure V1. The chains 9 Allare con# nected together at certain intervals Aby crossbars 10, the ends of which project beyond the chains and slide in guideways 11 at opposite sides of the front 'of the machine, which guides project a considerable distance above and below the top 2 of the machine. Each of the bars 10 carries a carton forming head, indicated as a whole at 12these heads being of special construction, as required by our invention, and arranged as they move down wardly at the front of the machine. to first receive a charge of the article or articles to be enclosed the`- carton and then have the carton blank formed therearound into a carton and then have the carton blank together with the charge of the article or articles contained therein ejected from the forming head.

The top -2 of the machine has an opening 1.3 therein through which the frming heads 12pass in their downward movement, and on the top 2 a carton blank, and lining therefor, if desired, `is placedprevious to the passage ofjeach head 12 through the opening 13, so

that the blank is formed around the head in connections whereby the plate 14 is thrown upwardly at the time that the carton forming` head 12 starts to enter the opening 13 and thereby folds up theportion of the carton vblank which constitutes the front wall of the carton. The plate 14has a win 19 pivoted at each end' thereof and opera yby the cam 20 on the shaft-15 through the link 123-which.

is connected to a crank 124 on thev shaft .125, t

the latter` being providedy with 'a .crank 126 l. which has the slotted outer end'connected to an arm ofthe bell crank 127 which is pivoted at 128 on the front plate 14 and has the other arm. pi-voted to the inner ends of the levers 129, said levers lbeing oscillatively *mountedv on the plate 144 and having their outer ends 20'are arranged s o as to swing the wings 19 'upwardly and rearwardly as the plate 14 is raised to the upright position and thereby fold the end flaps, on the front wall-of the carton, back alongside the-forming head- 12.

lower .end of the forming head, the forming] head begins to pass betweenthe side plates ff" 122 which are positioned so as to engage close against the ends of theforming head' 12 and have -their upper ends rounded outwardly .so

that, as the forming head carries the carton blank down therebetween, the end flaps on the carton bottom -are folded up thereb against the end flaps of the front wall whic have just been folded into position by the side wings 19. At .about the same time, the lingers 130 which are pivotedon a cross bar 131 of the frame are operated vby the cam 132 on the shaft 5 through the bell crank 133 and v I links 124 nto movedownwardly towards each other and engage the protecting lining of the carton at the juncture of the. carton back with the end flaps 'and thereby hold the said lining distended for the subsequent folding operation. -The top 2 at the rear of the opening 13 has an inclined entrance 21 thereto whichserves, as the forming head carries the carton blank down through the opening 13,

to fold. the b'ack and cover portion of the carton up against the rear wall of the forming head 12, and at each end ofthe opening 13 and extending downwardly from a point somewhat below the inclined entrance 21 is a guide 22, having the upper end beveled forwardly and inwardly to afford a gradual deflecting surface, which folds the endll'aps 23 fthe carton blank'in 'against the other pr'ey viously folded end .flaps of the carton blank as the carton forming head'continucs y to move downwardly. The passageway through which the carton forming head' 12 passes is cut away at the rear somewhat below the inclined entrance 21 so as to permlt the rear wall and cover portion of the carton ,to swing rearwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, so

as to rest against theinclined wall 24, such rearward throw being positively effected by. 4

a pair of fingers 25, one at each side ofthe opening through which the formi-ng` head passes, and which are operated by the'cams 26 on the shaft 15 at'the proper time to l29 at opposite sides of the forming opening are thrown inwardly by the 'operation of the cams 30 on the shaft 18, Aand immediately thereafter the plate-31 against which the back of the carton rests and which is hinged at- 32, is thrown to the upright position by the operation of the cam 33 on the shaft 6, which operation forces the locking tongues 27 between the rollers 29 and the-end iaps of the carton, and by'reason of openings 34 being provided in the ends of the carton forming head, the rollers 29 press the locking tongues 27` andportio.ns of the end flaps inwardly above the .slot 28 so that the straightening up of the supporting platel 31 -forces the tongues- 27'd'own through the slots 28 and locks the carton in the completely formed po sition, afterwhieh it is carried downwardly on the forming head 12 until it clears the carton forming mechanism and is t en ejected from the head. V

The shaft 15 has a spur gear 35 on the end 'which mesheswith the spur gear 36 on the shaftf, the latter gear being twice the diameter of the former, so that ther shaft 6 makes a half revolution, while the shaft 15 makes a complete revolution; and in our machine the shafts 6 and 15 have an intermittent or step by step movement imparted thereto, instead of the continuous movement as in the struc-4 ture of the Peters patent, this change being required in order to afford intervals of rest of the forming heads 12,` during which a change of material to be placed in the package may be inserted in the forming head.

` `To effect this step by step movement, the

\ a pin or roller 42 at the outer end which isdriveshaft 37, which is mounted in the side frames 4 with the drive pulley 38 thereon at one end, is provided with a Geneva drive connection with the shaft 6 comprising the disc 39 on the shaft 37, which disc is cut away, as at 40and provided with an arm 41 having adapted to engage successively in theifour radial slots 43 'of the Geneva wheel 44, so thatthe latter and its shaft 45 make a quarter turn at every revolution of the shaft 37, the rotation of the shaft 45 being effected during substantially a quarter turn movementof the shaft 37, so that during substantially three-quarters of each rotation of the latter, the shaft 45 and mechanism operated thereby are inactive. The carton forming 'heads 12 are spaced apart on the chains 9 a distance equal to one-half of the circumference of the wheels 7 or 8, and it is therefore necessary to advance the heads 12 such distance during each period of the step by s'tep movement, and to effect this result there is a spur gear'46 on the shaft 45 which meshes with a spur gear. 47 on the shaft 6, said latter gear being one-half the diameter .of the' former, so that at each quarter revolution of the shaft 45, the shaft 6 makes a half revolution and the shaft 15 through gears 36 and 35 a complete revolution, which is the extent of movementof eachrequired to effect'all the operations for completely forming the carton from the blank.

-ness of the articles inthe finished carton.

The side and rear walls 48 and 49 of the forming head extend full length of the forming head, the former walls being provided with the openings 34 therein, hereinbefore referred to, and having lugs 50 at their upper ends whereby the forming block is secured to the cross-bar 10 on the chains 9. The lower portion of the front wall'51l of the carton forming head is cut away, `as indicated at 52, so as to admit a chargeof the articles such as the wafers 53, as indicated in Fig. 7, loaf cake or the like, into the lower end of the forming head, and there is a conveyor mounted adjacent one of the positions of rest of the forming heads from which successive charges are adaptedk to be applied to each formii g head 12 as they come to rest adjacent the conveying mechanism.

The conveying mechanism and mechanism for vfilling the forming,T head are in the present illustration located at` the position of rest of the carton :forming head immediately preceding the passage thereof through the carton forming mechanism, and comprise a conveyor bottom 18 arranged directly at the front of and with the upper surface thereof substantially in the same plane as the lower edge of the forming block 12 when the latter -is at rest. The upper surface of the conveyor bottom 18 is 'provided with a longitudinal groove 53 to receive the chain 54 therein, which latter carries a series of fiights 55 which are spaced apart a suitable distance to receive the propercharge for the carton 'therebetween. The charges are applied to the conare advanced in a ste by step manner at the same time: that t e forming heads 12l are so advanced. For this purpose, the chain 54 may be connected in any suitable ma'nner for operation by either of the shafts 6, 15 -or 45, an example of which is shown. in Fig.. 1, wherei'r the shaft 6 has a bevel gear 56 meshingwith the bevel gear 57 on thelower end of theshaft 58, which shaft has a bevel gear 59 on the upper end meshing with the bevel gear 60 on the shaft 61 which carries the sprocket 62, over'which the conveyor chain 54 passes.

For insertin the charge of goods from the conveyor Ainto' the lower end of theI formino" block*12,"a pusher 63 is mounted in guidaeways 64 of the bracketsl65 so` as to reciprocatertransversely ofthe directional movement of the conveyor and at a distance thereabove, and this pusher has upright guides 66 at the forward end in which a, plate 67 is mounted for vertical movement l and adapted to be depressed toa position j along side ofa charge of material 4onthe conveyor, S0 that inward movement of the'. pusher 63 causes said plate to engage the outer side of the charge of material between adjoining ilights 55 of the conveyor, and push same laterally oi the conveyor bottom 52 into the lower end .of the forming block. A bell crank lever 68 is pivoted at 69 to the outer end of the pusher 63 and has one arm forked, as at 70, to straddle the pin 71 between lugs on the rear face of the plate 67. The 'other arm of the-bell crank lever 68 has'a pin engaging in the slot 72 of the crank arm 73 on the shaft 74, which latter is .jo'i'rnaled in the brackets 65 and projects there provided with a crank arm 75 which, has the outer end pivoted to. one endff the link 76, the other end of which said link is bifurcated and straddles the shaft 37 and v block after the carton has been formed therearound, and al `temporary 'bottom is required for the forming blocks, in case they are lled during vthe descending move`- ment, to support the charge of material as it is inserted in the forming block and before it is gripped by the holding members, hereinafter referred to. This bottom or temporary closure is' indicated at 80'and is -hinged at 81 to the inner edge of the conveyor bottom 52 so as to swing up and form a continuation of the upper surface ofthe conveyor bottom 52 directly under 'the charge-containing cavityin the lower end of the'forming head 12, this bottom .being "provided with a crank arm82 which is connected by the link 83 with the arm of a bell crank 84 which is pivotedv at its angle to the brackets and has av roller 86at the outer end of the other arm adapted to be engaged thereby swings the bottom or closing member 8O up to the horizontal position shown in-Fig. 5,- just before the charge is inserted from the conveyor into the forming block, and said bottom is released by the pull of the spring 85 as soon as the pusher 63 is withdrawn so that the rib 87 disengages the roller 86. y

For holding the charge of materiaal in the :forminghead "after the bottom 80 1s swung downwardly and as the forming head continues its downward movement, a thin plate 90"'is provided at each end of the forming block, oll'setjas at 121, so as to normally lie within the opening 34 inthe. end wall and adapted to clam against the opposite-ends of the charge a 'ter the latter has been i11- serted in the forming block. Each plate 90 is secured at itsupper end to acorner bracket 91 which i's pivotally mounted on in jbearings provided Ytherefor-in the front I outwardly at'one side of the machine and isladjrear wagllsl'jigg, regpefiyely of the forming block, and each corner bracket 91 has a spring plate v93vextending inwardly' so that the ends thereof overlap, and normally hell downwardly by the springs on the end walls of the forming heads. A no shaft 94 extends from front to rear of the forming block and has the ends journaled 1n bearings 95 provided# therefor onthe inner face ofthe front and rear walls, 51

.and 49, respectively, and there is a cam 96 -on thisshat directly underneath the overlapped ends of the spring strips 93 and provided with an eccentric fiat surface, shown by dotted lines in Ei 7, which upon rotation of. the shaftr 94'e evates the inner overlapped ends of the4 .spring strips 93 and holds the shaft 94. against accidental displacement from this position of adjustment. The elevation of the inner ends, of' the spring strips 93 causes, the side wings 90 to swlng inwardly, and in case a 'charge of material is in the forming block, the ends of the charge ate engaged by the side wings 90 so as to be held in the forming block.

The operation of the shaft 94, to elevate thesp'ring strips 93, just after'the charge has been inserted in the forming block, is`

' plate 67 downwardly to a position at the if' desired. As the forming block, which has.

side of the charge of material on the conveyor. When the plate 67 reaches the limit of its movement, the further oscillation of the shaft 74 causes the pusher 63 to move bodily toward the forming head until the charge is fully inserted, and byf'such movement, while the plate 67 is in the lowermost position, the lug 99 is projected through the,

lower end of the slot 97 directly below the trigger 98, as shown in Fig. 5. After the charge has been inserted and the shaft 74 is oscillated in the reverse direction to withdraw the charge-inserting mechanism, the rst operation is the oscillation lof the bell crank 68 which -raises the plate 67 to the upper extremity of its movement, thereby causing th'e trigger 98 to be lifted by the lugs 99 in such a manner as to vrotate the shaft 94 and turn the cam 96 and thereby elevate the inner extremities of the spring strips 93, so that the-end wings grip and hold thel charge of material in the lower. end of the forming block. As soon as the plate 67v reaches the rupper extremity of its movement and after the operation of the trigger 98, as aforesaid, the further oscilla- Y'blank is placed in the proper position on the top 2 of the machine and may also have the usual waxed paper lining placed thereupon iustbeen filled, now moves' downwardly, it comes into engagement with the carton blank, and the mechanism, hereinbefore mentioned, forms the carton andthe lining, if such lining is employed, around the form-A ing head 12 as it passes downwardly through theopening 13 in the top plate and passes the carton forming and locking members 14, 19, 121, 22, 25, 29 and 31, which completely form the carton blank into a carton around the forming block and the charge of material contained therein. A conveyor 100,"of any suitableftype, is provided directly below the downwardly moving4 forming blocks 12 to receive the cartons thus formed and the charge ofv material contained therein and convey same away.' For the purpose of ejecting the carton and its contents, as the forming block nears the lowermost position of its movement and before it begins to make the turn around the lower sprockets 8, we have provided an eje'cting mechanism to insure ejectment of the charge, together with the carton, and this mechanism takes the place of the ejecting mechanism which is provided for eiecting the cartonin the machine of the PetersA patent, hereinbefore mentioned. This ejectment mechanism' comprises a platen 101 extending across the sof formingv block directly above the chamber i The elevation of the platen is limitedby a.

collar.106 which is fixed on the stem'102 below the bearing 103 `and engages the-latter when'the platen is in the elevated position. The upper end of the stem 102 is bi'furcated and has a pin 107 passing through a` s lot 108 in the end of aflever 109, which latter is pivoted intermediate of its ends between a pair of lugs 110 onthe upper edge of the supporting bar 10 and is positioned directly above the ban 10, so that the passageway provided through the forming mechanism for thebar 10 will also admit the lever 109 therethrough. The outer end of the lever 109 is preferably offset and provided with a roller 111 which, as the formin block with its charge and the carton formed therearound approaches the lower extremity of its movement, engages a trip lug 112'on one of the guides 11, causing oscillation of the lever 109 so as to force the platen 101 downwardly and discharge the carton and lits contentsl onto the conveyor 100. Obviously,

I it is necessary to release the charge-holding ile ` the inner ends of .the spring strips 93 are elevated, comes in vposition to beengaged by the lower end of the stem 114, which latter Y has the upper end pivoted at 115` to the lever 109 and the lower end mounted to slide a the bearing 116 provided therefor on the l slot 108 engages the pin'107 of the stem 102 and forces the platen 101 downwardly and thereb discharges the carton and its contents rom the forming h'ead onto the cone veyor 1001 After the roller 111,passes beond the' trip lug 112, and the e'e'ction of the package and its contents has en com' pleted, the platen 101 is returned to the nor-A v mal position by the springs 104 and the lever 109 also returns to the normal position.

' In case the machine is being used in connection with frosted cakes, the ejecting mechanism -of the aforesaid Peters patent may be employed, instead of the ejecting mechanism just described, as the latter is liable to damage the frosting, and the structure of the Peters patentA will readily a'ccomplish the ejection of the cake and carton as the weight of the .cake insures same leavin the forming head lwith the carton.

It is to be understood that we have de-T scribed our invention in connection with a machine similarjto that shown in the-Peters vpatent merely for the purpose of 'affording a clear understanding of the 'apthe forming1 departing from the principles of our ins' plication of our invention to a cartn formlng machine, but we contemplate using the invention in connection with any type 4of carton formingk machine to `whichdt is capa# blev of being applied. It is also contemlated that ina machine similar to that illustrated and described, the filling operai tion may be arranged to take place while blocks are' moving upwardly, instead of ownwardly, in which case the temporary bottom and the mechanism for operating same'may be dispensed with. There are a'lso other numerous changes and modifications which may be made without vention, and we therefore dol-not pro osev limiting the vpatent granted herein, ot erwise than necessitated by the prior art.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming head having a compartment therein, carton folding mech` anism for forming a carton on the head, and

means operable prior to the formation of the carton to lock a charge of materialin the'` compartment and operable after the formation of the `carton to release said charge of material'. i

2.. In a device` 5f the' class described, the

' combination` of carton folding -mechanism,

a carrier'co-operating with said mechanism to fold a carton around a charge of material, and means on the carrier operable automatically to engage and hold the charge of material as the carton is formed therearound and thereafter release said charge.

3. `In a device of the class described, the vcombination of a forming head having a compartment therein, carton foldingvmechanism for forming a carton en the head, feeding mechanism for inserting a char e of material into said compartment, and re easable means for yieldingly holding the charge in said compartment.

.4. In a device' of the 4class described, the Combination of la forming head havingav compartment, carton folding` mechanism, meansV for passing the head through the carton forming mechanism, feeding mechanism;- for inserting vthe charge of material Vintothe compartment of the forming head, l

Vand vmeans on the forming head operable before the formation of the carton'thereon to yieldingly hold the charge in the compartment and-operable after the formation of the carton to release the charge of material.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming head, carton fold- 'ing means co-operating therewith to form a carton on the head, means for inserting a 'charge of material into 'the vforming head, holding members on vsaid head for en aging and holding the charge of material-t erein, a cam, and means for operating said cam to alternately lock and release the holding members.' 6. In a combination of a forming head', means for 'applying and folding ablank around the head so as to form a carton,`a conveyor for advancingcharges of goods successively to a position adjacent the forming head,'means for transferringa charge froml the conveyor to' the forming head, and mechanismfor o erating the conveyor '-andsaid means a ternately. 4

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a forming head, means for ducing aV charge of goods into the head before the formation of each Acarton therearound, and means, automatically operable, to-lockthe charge in the-forming head during the formation of thecarton.

devia. of the dass described, the

folding a blank around'the head so as to form a carton, feeding mechanism for intro- 8. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a forming head, means for foldinga blank around' the headto form alv- Laeaeei carton, a conveyor for supplying charges of goods successively to` and inserting same into the forming head, and a pair of opposedgripping members adapted to be held at a tension against the ends of the charge of goods in the forming block preparatory to the formation of the cartontherearonnd.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination of an endless carrier having a plurality of formin blocks thereon, means adjacent the path o the carrier and adapted to coopera-te with the forming blocks to fold a blank therearound and form a carton, a conveyor' adjacent the path of the forming blocks for supplying successive charges of goods to be ,enclosed in the carton, means for automatically transferring the charges to the` formin blocks, and an ejector for removing the cldarge and carton simultaneously from the forming blocks.

' l0. In a device of the class described, the combination oi an endless carin with mechanism `for imparting a step by step movement thereto, a plurality of forming heads on thefcarrier, mechanism adjau cent the path o'the carrier for forming a blank around eachfforming head into a carton, a conveyor adapted to supply charges of goods successively to a position adje-cent the Path ofthe forming heads, means op; erab e for transferring a charge of oods from the conveyor to heformin hea an ejector on each forming head', Ian means adjacent the path of the carrier for operating the ejector, after the formation of the carton, so as to remove the carton and the charge of goods from the head.

FRANK-M. PETERS. 'WARREN H. HUNGERFORD.` f

during intervals of rest of the carrier y i provided 

